Google has deleted from its search results the links to 446 pages of 106 pirate resources, which had illegally borrowed content owned by Eksmo, a leading Russian publisher.
Among the blacklisted sites are Bookmir.ru, Fanknig.ru, and Kniga-free.ru, as well as torrent tracker Torrentino.com, reported Vedomosti, a Russian business daily.
Google’s move was not based on a Russian court decision. According to Eksmo’s general manager, Oleg Novikov, it followed a request filed by the publisher in accordance with U.S. law on author rights, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Many other links to illegal copies of Eksmo content remain, but “the process is just beginning,” said Novikov.
According to experts quoted by Vedomosti, Google has seldom deleted links to illegal content. Russian publishers were previously unaware of the possibility of such a redress. Now, however, they are likely to take advantage of it more often.
Yandex, the search engine far ahead of Google on the Russian Internet, has not undertaken similar actions to date. “Google acts according to U.S. law,” explained Yandex spokesman Ochir Mandzhikov. Should it do the same, Yandex, which is under Russian jurisdiction, would “violate the Russian legislation on citizens’ right to free search of information, which is guaranteed by the constitution.”
Source: Vedomosti
